Beat The GMAT a GMAT & MBA community

Greetings to all!

Quick background info: Just wanted to "wing-it" and take the GMAT to have proof. The few, small, local schools I was looking into just wanted proof...as long as the GMAT score was between 400-450. My primary purpose was to attend one of these smaller, lesser known programs since it was very suitable to my work schedule.

I prepared a little by brushing up concepts and taking 5-6 CATs. Combined, I averaged around 450 on all the CATs. As long as I got around 450 on test day with some effort I'd be satisfied.

Test day came, and I managed a 520 (33Q/28V) with a 6.0 on AWA. Rather pleased/surprised on my AWA. I somewhat figured that AWA score was possible since I frequently blog, type like a maniac, am a stickler for grammar/punctuation, and am quick to express thoughts.

To get to my point, the tides have shifted for me. Now I am going to re-take the GMAT to score better. I'm signed up for an On-site course hosted locally and a Kaplan On-Demand course. Since I'm within striking range for some mid-level universities here, I figure "Why settle small?" while I can open up more doors with a higher score.

I'm hoping that between these 2 Prep courses I can touch 600. Upper 500's will suffice well for me too. Again, not a 700 score but it's a big jump for me.

However, I'm pretty nervous since I'm about to drop some serious money on Prep and I may not even get an improved score. I know I will study hard but the fact that I'm taking another 2 months to prep hard may not even pay-off -- perhaps flopping and getting the same score or worse.

Any encouragement is appreciated!

Kind Regards,

Joe. B